Mandy is all clipped and shined up.On show day she will be bagged too, but in this shot her udder is pretty empty
as she was milked a few hours before.
This year it also means that the last of my babies is off to college. Liz has graduated and is staying home to work with us, which is truly sweet. The other two start Monday and for some reason it is bothering the heck out of me. I can barely sleep nights, even though they are both commuting as there is an excellent state college about 25 miles from here. Becky will be continuing her studies majoring in anthropology and Alan will begin in fisheries and wildlife.
Their schedules are just plain nasty, with many days that they will leave at 7 AM and not return until 10 PM. Becky has been the calf raiser this year. Liz and I will be doing that now so it means an extra job. Alan has worked as hard as any man helping his dad and milking with me. We will miss their help for sure. However what I am going to miss most is the comedy and camaraderie we normally take for granted. We have a lot of fun no two ways about it. NapoleON and his appendi and the excellent discussions of all the latest reading material will be sadly lacking in the barn this fall. I am sad, even so far as to feel kind of crushed about it all. I know babies are supposed to grow up and leave, but who knew I was going to like them so much?
On the plus side Liz and I will have lots of good long cow talks and that is a very satisfying passtime. We can talk about cows and feeding and fitting and showing and making advantageous matings all day and half the night if we get a chance. I am sure glad I will still have that.....and weekends.
We love our cows
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15 comments:
threecollie,
The temps this morning feel like the end of summer brrrrr :)
Mandy looks beautiful - I remember watching the kids at the fairs - grooming and clipping and brushing non-stop, making sure they didn't miss a thing. I was always so envious. Those cows always looked like they had been spit shined! I'm sure Liz and Mandy will steal the show :)
I can't imagine what it's like to send two of my children off to college. I'm feeling terribly sad just because my youngest is headed to 8th grade. Like you, I miss him - he's fun. We laugh and play and share little things. I'm lonesome without him. This year Tom is home. I'm grateful for that. Usually when Ty starts back to school I'm alone. I adjust but it's not easy.
You have wonderful children - who wouldn't miss them? Liz will be a blessing. I wish them well in their endeavors and look forward to reading about them here....keep your chin up Mom - we will handle it. No one gives us any choice :)
I love my cow SO much! And I still can't believe she followed me back down yesterday after I took her up to the herd! What a momma's girl!
Gorgeous girls! Come on Mom, don't be so sad - you have done a wonderful job. But you wouldn't be a good Mom would you if you didn't miss your kids.
I never have understood the people who can't wait for their kids to leave the nest or even go to school at the end of summer...
Good Luck at the Fair!
Hey, look at it this way... Alan and Beck are probably filled with just as much anxiety about the change in routine too. Not to worry, they will do great things.
What a beaut of a cow!
Sleek!!
I remember last year this time I was feeling the same sense of loss as my girls both left home.
I hope they appreciate you as much as you deserve.
Cows are very sweet, we love them too, especially calves.
I am already dreading my eldest son leaving in 2010!
Beautiful cow!
Aw, my heart aches reading your words. Still, they're not far, so that's a good thing. And just think - you and Liz can talk about cows AND chickens, more chickens! When Hannah was five she promised me that she grows up and gets married her husband will live in our barn and she will stay in her room. I still remind her that she promised!
Deb, yeah, I am wearing the polar fleece shirt I use as a jacket in the winter right now.
Thanks for your kind words on Mandy. She and Liz are quite a pair. I was always so jealous of the farm kids when I was young...the fair is a lot of work but I lot of fun.
And I know it is the expected and normal thing to part from your children as they grow. It isn't something I am good at though. Guess I will have to learn. lol
You have a great family and I love reading about them on your blog.
Thanks for your kind words
Paints, those cows are so funny. I couldn't believe how big Mandy was when you brought her over to the house!
Nita, thanks. It used to drive me nuts to sit at school start up meetings and hear the young mothers, right in front of their kids, go on and on about how wonderful it was going to be to have them out of the house. It was always the saddest time of year for me...and absurdly it hasn't gotten any less as they have grown older. It is going to be great to have Liz back here, but I sure will miss the other two.
Steve, they are indeed. So many dilemmas, so few answers. Missing grades from last semester. Misplaced classes. Buildings with strange numbers that no one knows where they are. Two or three weeks from now we will all be used to it but for a while there is high drama
FC, thanks, I remember when you wrote about it and I am happy to read whenever they are all together again.
Linda, for the most part they are really good to me...
WR, thanks I can believe it. Your kids are doing so many interesting things all the time....
TEri, thanks...I think I am going to suggest that barn for husbands thing! We could use a couple of good strong guys out there and then the girls would be right handy....don't know what we will do with Alan's wife when he gets one though....hmmmm
Sending good thoughts to you Threecollie. You hang in there. :)
We'll move Alan to the barn....
Mandy looks beautiful, Liz did a good job with her!
dani, thanks, we can sure use them
Paints, now, now.....
Aussie, thanks so much...
ok, you know I know not a thing about cows, but is that hip bone really supposed to look like that???
Islagringo, yes, it really is. She has a lot of dairy character, which includes sweeping ribs and sharpness over the hips like that.
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